Sample Railing section for P. W. French & Company, New York
This prototype of a railing for a stair and landing represents one of the most unusual and imaginative of the Yellin projects. Part of a larger commission for the showrooms of the prestigious art and antiques dealers P. W. French & Company, the elaborate railing would have garnered much attention. The figures, modeled in the round, are thought to have been based on thirteenth- to sixteenth-century English wood carvings. Yellin had found a collection of more than five hundred such carvings in London and, recognizing its value as an inspiration to craftsmen, secured it for the Pennsylvania Museum, now the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The only known related project is a railing made for Richard B. Mellon of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Records show that Mellon, a client of French & Company, commissioned the railing through the firm, likely after admiring the one in their showrooms.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sample Railing section for P. W. French & Company, New York
- Maker: Samuel Yellin (American, born Russian Empire [now Ukraine], Mohyliv Podilskyi (Mogilev Podolsky) 1884–1940 New York City)
- Date: 1929
- Geography: Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Culture: American
- Medium: Wrought iron, brass
- Dimensions: 36 1/2 × 28 × 2 in., 45 lb. (92.7 × 71.1 × 5.1 cm, 20.4 kg)
- Credit Line: Gift of Leeds Art Foundation, in honor of Clare Yellin, 2021
- Object Number: 2021.361
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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